Hanging by a Thread
by CUtopia
Summary: Rolanda is injured during The Battle of Hogwarts and enters the afterlife for a short time


Entry for the "Potions Class" at "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)"

_Assignment:_

You have to **write about a medicinal potion saving someone's life**. A **minimum** of a 1000 words. Your prompts are: **light, minutes and life.** You have to incorporate the character **Neville Longbottom** into this assignment in some way.

I hope you like it :)

* * *

"Put her down on the bed, hurry! Be careful!"

A group of people, a mix of students and teachers, hurried into the Hospital Wing, carrying the slack, pale body of a slender woman. Poppy Pomfrey, Hogwarts' resident medi-witch, who had been walking in front of them, conjured a huge stack of bandages and fresh water after shooting a short, worried gaze through the huge room which had not been spared by the battle, hence being a real mess.

"Mister Longbottom, please go and search for my Potions Cabinet, I don't think that the vials would survive a Accio in case they are trapped under something," she ordered one of the students and the young men nodded, hurrying to do as she had told him. Poppy looked down at the young witch lying on the bed and she felt a uncomfortable sting in her stomach as she realised that it was her friend Rolanda Hooch, Quidditch mistress at the school. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath to calm herself down and regain her professional distance, then she asked:"Do you know what happened? Was it a spell or something else?"

"I have no idea," Minerva McGonagall answered promptly while Poppy ripped Rolanda's blouse apart to examine the huge slash at her side from which she was constantly loosing blood.

"The bleeding is so heavy...," Poppy murmured while pressing the bandages down to try and stop the red from flowing. She knew that they only had minutes to save Rolanda, her life was hanging by a threat right now.

"Minerva, take over, I need to try and close the wound."

The two witches hurried to change places and Poppy murmured one healing spell after another while the other people stood there, watching in worry, or left to search for more injured comrades.

"I closed it, but she lost a lot of blood... She is extremely weak, we need a Blood-Replenishing Potion as soon as possible!"

"Will she make it?" Minerva asked, trying to stop her hands from trembling as she stepped back, watching her best friend rush around the bed, then stopping for a diagnostic spell.

"I don't know... What...We are loosing her," Poppy hissed, shooting a slightly panicked look at Minerva before she tried another set of emergency healing incantations.

A gleaming white light appeared in front of her, letting a wonderful warmth seep through every part of her soul and all Rolanda wanted was to drown in it's snugness to forget all the horror and pain she had seen today. If this was what dying was like, it turned out to be less bad than she had thought only a short moment ago. She was feeling light, as if she was drifting on a summer breeze, dreaming... The light came closer and she could see something dark, black standing out against the dark, eyes... and they looked so familiar, so soothing... His voice was softer then she had ever heard it before, it seemed to be filled with peace as he spoke:"Don´t give up, Ro! You are a fighter, there is so much more to life!"

"Severus," Rolanda smiled, reaching out her hands for him and she suddenly felt his skin on hers where just only had been light and he smiled back at her, a expression she had rarely ever seen on him. "It feels so comfortable to be here and... and I don't know if I can go on fighting, I am so tired. What will happen if I stay here, Severus?"

The smile vanished, being replaced by a sad expression and he answered:"You are dying, Rolanda. If you give up now Poppy won't be able to bring you back. But this is not an option for you, do you understand me?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't want you to die, Rolanda," Severus said and suddenly Rolanda felt the urge to laugh. She giggled, one hand on her stomach, the other one still entwined with Severus' who shot her a confused look.

"What are you laughing about?"

"I-It´s just... umm, I was just thinking about how afterlife made you kind of... soft," Rolanda chuckled, delighted about how his lineaments immediately changed to his usual dark glare, forming a even bigger contrast to their shining surroundings.

"This is serious, Rolanda," he snarled, cupping her face and forced her to look him in the eye. "You simply do not have any time for your childish behaviour! You are going to die!"

Suddenly, realisation hit her like the stone debris from the ceiling of the hallway had hit her. He was dead and she would soon be as well and... it felt so unreal right now. She felt alive, but this was an illusion and tears started to fill her eyes as she thought about that this could be the end.

"But... I can't... Why... I don't...," she stuttered, looking up into his dark eyes before he pulled her into a embrace, his low voice murmuring into her ear:"Just close your eyes and concentrate on going back, Rolanda."

"What about you?" she whispered, a tear falling onto her cheek. A little bit of fear managed to haunt her in the middle of this comforting warmth and she realised that she did not wanted to be alone, to be alive without him, knowing that she may could have been with him... asking herself what would have been if she had ever had told him about her feelings, trying to imagine what could have been... Knowing that there would be nothing left. He would be gone.

"Don't worry about me, I will be okay."

"But...," Rolanda wanted to protest, but Severus shook his head, giving her his 'don't mess with me' stare. "Severus, I... I want you to know that... I lo..."

"I know. Now close your eyes, please. It is time."

And with one last look into these dark depths that had her enchanted for so long, she let her eyelids fall closed and all that remained was the feeling of his hands gently touching her waist, his breath grazing over her skin... and then he kissed her, bringing her every nerve end to life, just before she felt how she was being pulled away from him, darkness and cold rushing down on her and the last thing she heard was:"I will always be right beside you."

"I have found the Blood-Replenishing Potion!", Neville panted, handing the vial to Poppy, wiping the mixture of sweat and blood from his face while the medi-witch uncorked the vial and set it to Rolanda´s lips, forcing it down her unresponsive throat.

"Come on...," Poppy murmured, moving her wand over her patients body with a few diagnostic spells and suddenly hope lit up in her face. "The potion is working, she is getting stronger again."

"Good work, Poppy...," Minerva said, touching her friends shoulder before they both sat down on the edge of Rolanda's bed, one woman of each side.

"If Neville and foremost the potion would not have been here I would have lost her... so thank the one who invented the potion... And Rolanda too, for not giving up."


End file.
